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Never Assume They Know

A few years back, I was invited to speak in front of the Board of Trustees of a very large organization. I was there to educate them about gift planning. As part of my presentation I told stories of people who had made irrevocable non-cash gifts.

This was a high-powered board and the Chair of the Board is a great philanthropist. He was known to have made at least one 9-figure gift. At the conclusion of the presentation he exclaimed, “I didn’t know you could gift real estate!”

Amazing, right?

Since that experience I have never assumed that donors, wealthy or not, know all the answers or have the best advisors. More often than you think, your knowledge of creative gift planning will be greatly valued by your donors.